Cassadee Pope
Cassadee Blake Pope (born August 28, 1989) is an American pop-rock/country singer-songwriter and musician from West Palm Beach, Florida who won season 3 of The Voice USA, mentored by Blake Shelton. She is the first woman and, at age 23, was the youngest contestant ever to win the show until Danielle Bradbery won season 4 at age 16. Background Before trying out for the show, Pope was the lead singer of a band called Hey Monday, which had released one album and three EPs and even toured with bands such as Fall Out Boy. In December 2011, the band went on hiatus, which allowed Pope to embark on a solo career. She released a self-titled acoustic EP in May 2012 and even toured to promote it. The Voice USA Pope decided to try out for the show where she wowed the judges with her rendition of the Natalie Imbruglia song "Torn", which got all four to turn their chairs around. Despite her pop-rock background, she chose Blake Shelton to be her mentor. However, Pope's audition was considered controverisal by some because of her past experience as the lead singer of Hey Monday. That didn't stop her from progressing through the competition where she continued to impress with her beautiful voice and her willingness to take on different songs ranging from "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson to "Payphone" by Maroon 5. It was her take on the Miranda Lambert song "Over You", which had been co-written by Blake Shelton, that many feel may have put Pope on the path to victory. She then took on other country songs such as "Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban and "Stand" by Rascal Flatts, which earned her high praise. Pope won The Voice USA on December 18, 2012, beating out fellow Team Blake member Terry McDermott. Her first single is a cover of the Faith Hill song "Cry". Post The Voice After her win, Pope signed a deal with the Universal Music Group. She hopes to have her first album out sometime in October 2013. She also got to perform the song "Stand" on NBC's New Year's show, hosted by Carson Daly. She even got to perform at the first annual Trump Invitational hosted by Donald Trump in her hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida. Her first original single, "Wasting All These Tears, was released on June 4, 2013, the same day that she performed on The Voice. She also performed the song at the CMT Music Awards on June 5, 2013. The song debuted at number 7 on the Hot Country Songs chart, number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 10 on the Digital Songs chart with 125,000 copies sold in its first week. Record deal and tour Pope announced that she had signed a deal with Republic Nashville Records on January 17, 2013. She, along with The Band Perry, will be opening for Rascal Flatts on their summer 2013 tour, which kicked off on May 31, 2013 in Wantagh, New York. Television In addition to working on her music, Pope will also appear in a documentary-style TV show on CMT called "The Cassadee Pope Project". The show will focus on Pope's attempts to make her mark in the music industry after her Voice victory. The show will debut on CMT in September 2013. Discography Albums: * TBA (2013) EPs: * Cassadee Pope ''(2012) '''Singles:' * "Cry" (2012) * "Wasting All These Tears" (2013)